Skip to main content

El's Bells

After several uneventful days on her new elephant mask, Eleanor has continued having drops in her heart rate, which are now lasting longer and much more frequent and significant. She has also required slightly higher oxygen. This persuaded doctors yesterday to take a blood gas (check her CO2 levels), CVC (check her white count and hemoglobin), blood cultures (check for infection), and urine culture (further check for infection). 

They started her on an antibiotic just to be on the safe side. Her hemoglobin came back low and her white count was high (suggesting that she's fighting an infection). They gave her a blood transfusion and hooked her up with fluids after taking her off food for the day (NPO). Her cultures have since been negative and the white count in her urine was also acceptable. She even had a good blood gas. 

This brings us to today. She has had vastly more significant drops in her heart rate and prompted a code blue around 5pm. The medical team has since increased her pressure settings and her backup ventilator levels. They are still very perplexed as to why she continues to have such frequent and exuberant drops. She has still not had food and they will be repeating the blood gas this evening. 

Eleanor is very tired working hard to keep breathing. If she progresses down this slippery slope, she will have to be intubated once again and this would be a great leap backwards. 

We do request that she does not have any visitors at this time, but appreciate all of the love and prayers.

-Kim

Comments

  1. Prayers up for baby Elle. Give Kim n Alex ❤

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh Kim, I am so sorry Eleanor is having such a hard time. I'm praying for her constantly. Praying God puts his healing hand upon her. Alex and Kim prayers for you both too. Love all 3 of you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Normal blood oxygen levels in humans are considered 95–100 percent. If the level is below 90 percent, it is considered low resulting in hypoxemia. Blood oxygen levels below 80 percent may compromise organ function, such as the brain and heart, and should be promptly addressed. check your Pulse Oximeter

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First 48

Hi friends and family of Kim, Alex, and baby Eleanor Sutara, After talking with Kim and Alex, it seemed easiest to send updates to everyone through a blog post. We are grateful and appreciative of everyone's concern, support, and well wishes as Eleanor begins her long journey in Akron Children's. Eleanor is a PPROM baby, meaning that Kim experienced a preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM), showing little to no amniotic fluid in utero, and was subsequently hospitalized long-term for monitoring at 24 weeks following a large bleeding episode, with the hopes that the baby would be able to hang in to 34 weeks. I will let Kim elaborate if she wants on the pre-birth details, but for now I'm just slapping some hard and fast details together from what I can immediately recall. Heart monitoring of the baby beginning on Saturday, 19 January revealed some variability, and Kim was taken to the labor and delivery ward as a precaution. By Tuesday morning, Kim's doct...

The Little Peanut That Could

Eleanor has been growing like a weed! Using little to no energy to eat allows for all those calories to be stored, aside from the hundreds she burns kicking all day long.  Eleanor had a swallow study this week where it was determined she needed thicker milk. There are no thickeners for breast milk that are NICU approved so she, reluctantly, is now trying out formula. She gets to attempt one ounce via a bottle and the remainder through her ng-tube. The remainder is still breast milk, so we’re not completely throwing in the towel.  Thicker food has made a significant difference in the feeding process. What used to be terrifying and stressful, as Eleanor would choke and stop breathing, is now a wonderful experience. The only problem is Eleanor often just gums the bottle and isn’t actually drinking anything. But she’s still happy, so we’re okay with it.  This weekend she is to repeat her stim(ulation) test. Recall from the last post, this is the synthetic injected ...

One Giant Leap Backward for Eleanor

Saturday was Eleanor’s shower. Family and friends gathered and we had a wonderful time and were blessed with such amazing, generous gifts. We are so thankful for all of the love for our little lady. When we got to the hospital afterward, Eleanor’s favorite nurse Megan had decorated her room and outfitted Eleanor in a pretty pink tutu ensemble for the occasion. Such an all around blessed day. Eleanor, however, was a cranky little thing and was not having it. She didn’t even calm down fully when Mom and Dad held her. Sunday was a little of the same. Something wasn’t quite right about Eleanor, but we all thought it was normal baby stuff (HA! "normal"!). She did have a few more heart rate dips, but the doctors determined she had just outgrown her dose of caffeine (provided to her to help her tiny brain remember to breathe) and needed more. The nurses even changed her linens to a coffee pattern for the occasion. She still had continued drops after her increased dosage, but the...